The End Will Come
by ReunitedLight
Summary: Anakin had always been brave, for himself and for others. But deep in his heart, the dragon whispered that the end would come. Oneshot.


_The end will come._

* * *

Anakin was a slave, he always had been. But he was used to it by now. He'd arrived on Tatooine so long ago he could barely remember it. He did remember, however, that there was at least one slave casualty there. He'd witnessed it himself. He saw a being bursting out of the room, on the run.

And then he exploded.

As a welcoming present, the person who had been in charge of the slaves told them that was what happened to slaves who tried to escape on Tatooine. And it was the first time that Anakin learned that the end would come.

" _The end will come," the wise ones on Tatooine whispered. "The end will come..."_

Anakin and his friends wondered what this had meant.

" _Mom," Anakin asked one day. "The legends that the people tell their children- the end will come- what does it mean?"_

 _Shmi put her work down. "I don't know."_

" _You don't?" Anakin looked dejected._

 _Shmi made eye contact with him. "I'm sorry I don't know, Ani. But even the elders don't know." Her eyes clouded and looked distant. "No one knows. But the end will come. It will come. And only after the end comes will you understand what it means."_

Since then, Anakin felt he could discover what the end was like by himself before experiencing him. He had predicted things before, and if he thought hard enough, he could do it now. But every time he saw another slave die and every time he dreamed about freedom, there was a part of him that whispered, " _The end will come..."_

The end would come for all of them. The end would come for his mother one day, and Anakin himself next. And although they told him that there was no way to stop the end from coming, part of Anakin felt that he should at least try. But he didn't think about it that much. Instead, he dreamed. He dreamed of his destiny, of visiting all of the stars in the galaxy. In a galaxy where the end would never come.

* * *

 _The end will come. The end will come, and there is nothing you can do to stop it._

* * *

It was hard training under Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was strict, and critical, and he just didn't understand how Anakin felt. Anakin felt the absence of his mother every day and he dreamed of her meeting the end.

He didn't think much about slavery anymore.

He and Obi-Wan came into situations that were dangerous all of the time. Anakin wondered if one of those times in the future might be the end for them.

The Jedi and the other Padawans had not heard or understood that the end will come. Anakin wondered if Tatooine was the home of that legend or if none of the Jedi really remembered their homeworlds.

 _Anakin and Obi-Wan were meditating silently in their quarters at the Jedi Temple. Meditating had always been a difficult task for Anakin, it was hard to focus and clear his mind, but Anakin managed. He figured that through time he would learn to do better._

 _He had just recovered from a disturbing image of his mother, a vision experienced just like the dreams he had always had, and that was when he would always think of the end._

" _Master," he questioned, "Have you ever heard the saying, 'The end will come'? What does it mean? Do you know?"_

 _Obi-Wan gave him a somewhat confused look. "The end will come? I have never heard that. But, Anakin, death is a natural part of life, as Yoda says."_

 _Anakin sighed. "But, Master-"_

 _Obi-Wan interrupted him. "Anakin. Death is a natural part of life. Don't let the visions of your mother cause you to do something that you'll regret. Please, just let us finish meditating."_

" _Yes, Master," Anakin stated, and resumed his meditation._

They never spoke about it again.

So Anakin and Obi-Wan prided themselves on missions, and learning, and they did the best they could to save the Republic and do things for the betterment of the galaxy. Anakin managed to keep his fear of losing his loved ones out of his mind, for the time being. But his efforts truly failed when he was reunited with Padmé Amidala.

* * *

 _The end will come. The end will come, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The end will come, regardless of the choices you make._

* * *

He was a Jedi in his prime, a valiant and powerful hero for the Republic. Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, and his best friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Negotiator, were the best hope for the Republic any citizen could hope for. They were a perfect team. They were exactly the Jedi that the HoloNet painted them to be.

Everyone missed the shadows lurking in Anakin's eyes.

He couldn't let her die. He couldn't let her go. He wouldn't let the end come for her because he loved her far too much.

He knew what the Chancellor was hinting at. The Dark Side of the Force. Anakin was no fool. But he would not turn so easily, and wondered if there was any other way to save the one he loved. He was a knight of the light, but the constant fear of death, the constant fear that the end would come was locked deep inside his heart. The Jedi wouldn't understand, they wouldn't let him raise a child, much less make him a Master so he could learn the secrets of the archives.

But if he couldn't earn Padmé's life, then he would have to pay for it. And he would much rather live a life with her in darkness than without her in light.

There was still a part of him that whispered, _It doesn't matter what you do. She will still die. The end will still come._

Yet, Anakin wondered if it was possible for him to turn to the dark side. He wanted to be a Jedi, he really did. But the Order was corrupt, serving a falling Republic… and sometimes Anakin thought that it needed to die. He was the Chosen One. But there were some moments where he even doubted the prophecy itself.

He might even be serving Darth Sidious as a slave, he understood. But he could handle slavery. It was worth it at least because then, it would delay the end from coming to either of them.

And as Anakin stared at the evening sky on the veranda, he knew in his heart that he was making the choice for the greater good.

* * *

 _The end will come. The end will come, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The end will come, regardless of the choices you make. The end will come, no matter what you will do or what you've done._

* * *

Vader was deep in thought as he stalked away from the bridge of the Executor. The battle on Cloud City was done, and Luke was gone for now, recovering from a shattered heart and a severed hand.

What had Obi-Wan done? Darth Vader thought the name in pure hatred. Kenobi had told his own son that he had killed Anakin Skywalker. Vader knew that this was true, but it had been told in such a way that Luke believed he had killed Anakin Skywalker in a physical form.

 _But I destroyed him… in another way,_ Vader thought. This was thought with a hint of regret that he always tried to deny, because thinking about it any more always led him to think of _her_. And death had made its way to her. She was gone forever. But how had she given birth to a son?

Luke was no new news to Vader. He had discovered his son's existence before Sidious had told him, shortly after the Battle of Yavin. His acts of anger in that moment were thoughts that Vader did not want to recover.

Vader wondered how the end would come for him. He certainly deserved it. But part of him knew that would never happen until he truly had something to live or die for. He could not love Luke, for the end would come for everyone that he ever cared about but him, and so he was stuck in life with nothing but being a slave to his Master, and so there was nothing he could do.

He didn't want to die. He didn't want the end to come. But somehow… somehow, deep inside, he admitted he wanted to be complete. He wanted his life's destiny to be fulfilled.

A memory of Anakin's made its way to the top of his head.

 _Anakin watched his mother struggle to open her eyes. "Now I am complete," she whispered to him with her smashed lips, the eyes on her bleeding, tortured face suddenly clear with contentment. "I love y-"_

 _And her head fell back._

The end had come for his mother, like it had come to all things, like it would come to him someday. He didn't deny it now. But he wondered, like all Sith did, if there was any way to stop it from coming.

" _...there is nothing you can do…"_

Vader wanted to make the end come for his Master, who had been his source of pain for over twenty years. He respected his Master. But to carry on the Rule of Two set so long ago by Darth Bane, he had to recruit Luke as an apprentice, so they could overthrow the master and finally rule the galaxy together. He only hoped that Luke would agree.

Unlike their mother.

There was nothing he could do now. He could only sit, and wait for his son to make his way back to him, so they could further delay the end from coming.

* * *

 _The end will come. The end will come, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The end will come, regardless of the choices you make. The end will come, no matter what you will do or what you've done. The end will come, to you and everyone you care about._

* * *

Anakin was back. He had killed Sidious, brought balance to the Force, and saved his son. Why he was afraid to love before, Anakin could not remember. He loved his son, he loved his daughter, and he loved Padmé and so many others. Like his mother, he was complete. His mother had told him long ago that he would only understand what it was when it had come. And Anakin had finally brought it to everyone he cared about. Anakin could never be more grateful.

* * *

 _The end will come. The end will come, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The end will come, regardless of the choices you make. The end will come, no matter what you will do or what you've done. The end will come, for you and everyone you care about._

 _Because in the end, the end will come. The end of all of your hatred, your violence, and your sorrow will come, leading to the bringing of never-ending joy, love, and peace._

* * *

As he laid his head back in the presence of his beautiful son, he could feel the spirits of Padmé, of his mother, of Obi-Wan, rush into his consciousness. And he was perfectly at peace and complete, and finally allowed himself to pass into the dimension of the Force.

The end had come.


End file.
